In 1998, I became involved with video archives and media preservation,
when I was hired by public television station WNET-TV to advise them on how to move a chaotic
collection of 60,000+ videotapes representing more than 40 years of broadcast
history.
With the help of colleagues Mona Jimenez and Jim Hubbard, we developed a
plan to prioritize and keep 35,000+ of the most important tapes, design and build
a genuine video archive with proper climate control, and hire professional,
trained staff.
The WNET Tape
Archive was created, and I became an instant expert on the current state of
video preservation. The field was
evolving rapidly to outline the terms and technology required for log-term
digital preservation, and in 2o03 I became PROJECT DIRECTOR of Preserving Digital Public
Television a model video
preservation project funded by the Library of Congress through their National Digital Information and
Infrastructure Preservation Program (NDIIPP).
Project partners were WNET-TV, WGBH-TV Boston, the Public
Broadcasting Service, and New York University, and I was responsible for
coordinating and directing all aspects of designing model digital preservation
repository for file-based public television program productions. This included --
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Overseeing
a team of 20 based at the partner organizations.
- Coordinating technical design and repository architecture.
- Determining and implementing Metadata
schema.
- Reporting on Rights and access
issues.
- Analyzing Long-term sustainability
and governance models.
- Educating and promoting preservation
practices.
- Publishing project reports and
presenting at professional conferences.
- Developing extensive relations with
other projects and institutions in the field.
Congress funded NDIIPP
in 2000 to develop a national strategy to collect, archive and preserve the
burgeoning amounts of digital cultural and educational content, especially
materials that are created only in digital formats, for current and
future generations. The project was
originally scheduled to be completed in 2007, but because of its success, it
was extended until 2010.
